Outgoing Boulder County Jail Division Chief Bruce Haas had a valuable learning experience in 1976 about what it takes to work at a jail.

He got locked up for three days.

"I was going through a class," said Haas, who retired on Friday. "One of the administrators came in and said, 'You all have two hours to prepare to go to jail.'"

Haas said it was not a good time, because he was supposed to go to a family reunion. No one really believed him when he told them. It was true, however, and within a few hours he was booked into jail under a false name.

He went through a strip search and was placed in a medium security portion of the old Boulder County Jail that is now houses the Boulder County Justice Center. It was cold. On his second night, his cell mate tried to commit suicide.

"You aren't a guard as some people believe. You are a counselor, a mediator and a caregiver to some extent. You are there to address what is in front of you and do it in a professional and humane way," Outgoing Boulder County Jail Division Chief Bruce Haas said. (Paul Aiken / Staff Photographer)

"I remember him cutting his wrists," Haas said. "I wrapped his arms up. You learn from that. You learn about the dependent relationship you have as an inmate."

And he remembered a lot more — the noise other inmates made at night, the uncomfortable bed, the good staff, the bad staff and the grim realization that comes from knowing you can't make a phone call or get a pen and paper if they don't get it for you.

The air vents blew down on him all night and gave him a sore throat. He stuffed something in them to block the flow, which was against the rules and would catch an inmate a write-up if he were caught.

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"It wasn't but two years later I became a sergeant," he said. "I remembered how poorly some of the (staff) treated me. There were no repercussions on my part. We still have those vent issues. We allow inmates to deflect the air."

As far as he knows, the jail has never had employees stay as guests of the county since — likely because risk management would never allow it — but the experience has informed how he approached his job in the coming decades.

Haas officially retired on Friday, and the Boulder County Commissioners proclaimed Friday as "Bruce Haas Day."

Haas started working at the jail in 1975 as a graduate student at the University of Colorado, where he obtained a master's degree in public administration. A California native, he received his undergraduate degree from San Diego State University. He's also a certified jail manager.

Haas has been heavily involved in numerous professional jail organizations, done consulting work, taught classes at the police academy and worked with rural jails to help them better their training standards, among other things.

He also graduated from the FBI National Academy, which he considers the highlight of his career.

Now that he's hanging it up, Haas plans on spending time with his daughter and taking care of his elderly mother. He's leaving on a nine-day motorcycle trip this week, and he plans on scuba diving in the winter.

"I've got a lot of plans," he said.

Haas worked his way up through the ranks and had been division chief for four years before retiring. He considers working at a jail to be more than making sure the inmates don't leave.

"When people come to jail, they are often in crisis," he said. "You aren't a guard as some people believe. You are a counselor, a mediator and a caregiver to some extent. You are there to address what is in front of you and do it in a professional and humane way."

Haas has seen much change during his 40-year career. Jail staff are now certified police officers. They now use radios (which is better than crying out for help and hoping someone hears you) and at least two deputies man each station in the jail.

Deputies are, however, asked to do a lot. They deal with a lot of people who are angry, drunk or on drugs when they come to jail, and deputies will find themselves in far more violent confrontations in jail than on the street. Haas recalls almost daily fights before he moved into administration.

"You get very few accolades," Haas said. "Most people have no understanding of how challenging it is to work in this environment. Not everyone can do this job."

The jail has developed numerous programs during Haas' tenure aimed at helping inmates deal with anger, depression and anxiety and develop coping skills that will hopefully keep them from coming back. Haas has no delusions that jail rehabilitates people, saying that true rehabilitation comes from within.

"You can choose to warehouse people," Haas said. "You can choose to do something with a captive audience. You have a population of people who — possibly for first time — are sober and you can try to do something."

Haas said, however, that the progress the jail has made can be overshadowed by suicides, the recent death of an inmate or accusations by an inmate who says he or she has been mistreated.

The jail has also struggled with overcrowding for the past several years, and inmates suffering from severe mental illness have been on the rise during the past decade. There are more fights, more suicide attempts and more "acting out."

Haas said that in spite of the issues it faces, Boulder County Jail has been held up as an example of a progressive jail, and Haas has traveled to other Colorado jails to train staff and give guidance. Jailers come from other states to Boulder County to see how the jail operates. He is proud of what he considers a "compassionate, patient and hard-working staff."

"We have a reputation as being one of the more program-focused, humane and progressive jails in Colorado," he said. "As bad as it is, inmates would rather be in our jail than other jails because of how staff interact with them."

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